Oil-lubricated sliding wear performance of TiSiCN-coated ductile iron

Improvements to internal combustion engine performance can be achieved by the application of advanced coatings to piston rings and cylinder bores. Here, the sliding wear performance of TiSiCN coatings on ductile iron was evaluated in heavy-duty diesel engine oil using a block-on-ring tribometer. The coatings were deposited by plasma-enhanced magnetron sputtering of titanium in a reactive environment containing nitrogen, acetylene, and hexamethyldisilazane. Coating characterization was conducted using X-ray spectroscopy and diffraction, electron microscopy, and nanoindentation. TiSiCN adhesion to ductile iron was qualified by Rockwell indentation testing. Wearing surface and counter surface material pairs were systematically varied. Intermittent friction oscillation was observed for self-mated TiSiCN, while tribosystems with only one TiSiCN surface exhibited improved friction stability relative to uncoated ductile iron. A 24% reduction in block wear rate was achieved by coating the block surface with TiSiCN. Solely coating ring surfaces with TiSiCN, however, increased the uncoated block wear rate by over 300%.